Tatooine Showdown - EI - Cinema Scenes

After enduring heavy damage during their escape from Naboo, the Naboo Royal Starship is forced to land on the desert planet of Tatooine. Returning from Mos Espa with Anakin Skywalker, Qui-Gon is ambushed by a figure in flowing dark robes - it is the evil Darth Maul. Ordering Anakin to the ship, Qui-Gon matches his awesome Jedi skill against the Sith Lord's sinister power. Both escape with their lives, but it would not be their last meeting.

One of the more exciting scenes in Episode I focused on the debut interaction between Qui-Gon Jinn and Darth Maul. After Anakin Skywalker decides to leave his mother to learn the ways of the Force, he and Qui-Gon Jinn head back to the Naboo Royal Starship to head to Coruscant. Suddenly, Darth Maul appears out of nowhere on his Sith Speeder. Qui-Gon Jinn quickly advises Anakin Skywalker to drop to the ground, and then Qui-Gon Jinn and Darth Maul engage in an aggressive, albeit brief, lightsaber duel before hopping on the Queen’s starship to head to safety. It is these moments that are forever captured in the Episode I Tatooine Showdown Cinema Scenes set, which quite frankly, is one of Hasbro’s most dynamic Cinema Scenes sets to date. Yes, it’s true that the Tatooine Showdown Cinema Scenes set contain three characters we already have in the Episode I toy line, but the three action figures featured in this set are all-new sculpts, and each has variances of the main costumes. Tatooine Showdown is an action-packed screen capture of the film. And the close call of what transpired served as a springboard for when the Jedi would interact with Darth Maul once again, and lead to a grim finale. Let’s take a closer look at what Hasbro included here and discover why some of the nicest-looking figures make up this three-pack.

Hasbro tooled Darth Maul in his full gear. From the swirling robes to the fitted hood on his head, Darth Maul looks like the consummate villain. He comes with a lightsaber, but it’s half-lit to match what we saw in the film. While Darth Maul comes with limited articulation, it’s perhaps fair to refer to this figure as statuesque. The robes don’t allow for any meaningful moment. But his arms and forearms articulate a little bit to change up the way he holds his lightsaber. Keep in mind, however, that Darth Maul is intended to be a display piece more than an action figure. His costume is painted beautifully as well. It has collections of sand from the Tatooine desert in a gradient-like application. And his facial paint operations look fantastic. Collectors will be happy with this version of Darth Maul. Another figure that impressed us more than we expected is Qui-Gon Jinn. He comes with a molded poncho/shawl, unlike the soft-goods version that came with the Eopie And Qui-Gon Jinn creature set. But in our opinion, this version of Qui-Gon Jinn offers the greatest likeness to the onscreen character. Also, Hasbro was careful and thoughtful of the drape of his costume. The poncho flows naturally with his action-packed pose, and the expression on his face is one of anger, concern, and defense. The figure is a gem. We’re happy to have this version in our collections now.

There isn’t much to write home about when it comes to the included Anakin Skywalker figure. The alteration to his costume is the inclusion of his backpack. It’s a nicely sculpted accessory, completely removable and is easy to fasten to the action figure thanks to well-functioning straps that snap into place and stay. Anakin Skywalker was tooled in a running position. After all, he’s trying to avoid any interaction with Darth Maul. But because of the pose, it’s a bit difficult to stand him up by himself thanks to his awkwardly angled legs and feet. But if you utilized the included display stand, you’ll discover that standing him up on the foot peg isn’t that much of a chore at all. The display stand is nice too. It features a couple of dunes, and a relatively flat surface with some footprints to show the figures in this set have been traveling through it. The backdrop is nothing more than more desert and a blue sky. But when set up the Tatooine Showdown Cinema Scenes set is quite beautiful. Overall, we’re quite pleased with how this three-pack turned out. We’re not crazy about Hasbro recycling characters they’ve made multiple times elsewhere in the line, but this is an exception we’re proud to say we enjoyed. We look forward to what else may come from this line as well. We recommend this set in the meantime.